After 19 years as a toll collector at the Golden Gate Bridge, Novato resident Marsha Brandhorst said goodbye Tuesday to her beloved post and the people she's befriended over the years during their daily commutes.

On early Wednesday morning, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District planned to make the switch from human toll collectors to a completely electronic toll system, leaving nine full-time toll-takers and 29 temporary, part-time hires without jobs.

"I love my job. I'm sad to be leaving it. If I had my choice I'd work here for many more years," Brandhorst, 58, said. "I'm going to be eligible to retire, but I'm not going out on my own terms."

Toll-takers like Brandhorst have been an institution at the bridge since it opened in 1937, but the pressure to help bail the district out of a $66 million budget shortfall over the next five years has led to employee pink slips.

Bridge district managers say eliminating toll-takers will save about $16 million over eight years in salaries and benefits. The base annual salary for a toll-taker ranged from $48,672 to $54,080. Outfitting the bridge with the new all-electronic equipment is costing the bridge district $3.2 million.

Brandhorst said she knew this day would come, but didn't think it would be so soon.

"They've talked about this for many, many years," Brandhorst said.

Under the new system, drivers will pay their tolls using digital transponders that deduct money from a prepaid account or credit card, or through license plate scans that automatically send bills to drivers. Those who want to pre-pay a toll with cash can pay at "Touch-N-Buy" kiosks around Marin, often found in convenience stores. Cash will no longer be accepted at the Toll Plaza.

The district has established a website — www.goldengate.org/tolls — to provide information to drivers about their payment choices.

Drivers who fail to pay the toll via one of the electronic options will receive warning letters and could eventually have a hold placed on their vehicle registration at the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Mary Currie, bridge district spokeswoman, said about 86 percent of the drivers that travel the nearly two-mile span are already using FasTrak, an automated toll system that attaches to a vehicle's windshield.

Multiple electronic signs advising drivers that cash will no longer be accepted Wednesday have been in place on southbound Highway 101 for a couple of weeks, leading Currie to believe the switch will be rather flawless.

"We're expecting our morning commute to go very well," Currie said.

Brandhorst said she's met people who have tried FasTrak and didn't like it, preferring to interact with the toll-takers and be greeted by a person, not a machine. She said each toll collector has their regulars they enjoy seeing each day.

"Over the years, you see the kids grow up. You see couples who get married and start having kids of their own. Then there's the older people you don't see anymore and you wonder what happened to them," she said.

Growing up in Marin, Brandhorst said she traveled the bridge as a child and always admired it. She said she's not sure what she will do next with her life, but that she doesn't regret her work on the bridge.

"I'm proud to have worked here. You travel anywhere in the world and people know about the Golden Gate Bridge," Brandhorst said.